The disclosed embodiments relate to a catheter for medical use.
Conventional balloon catheters include a radiopaque marker at a distal end of the catheter so that a distal end position of the catheter can be visually observed during procedures.
For example, Patent Literature 1 (identified below) discloses a catheter including an elongate main tubular body 10 with a polytetrafluoroethylene core 16 and a polyurethane outer jacket 18, which covers the polytetrafluoroethylene core 16. Additionally, the catheter includes a soft pointed tip 12 adhered to a distal end of the main tubular body 10, and a radiopaque precious metal marker band 14 is provided at a portion where the main tubular body 10 and the soft pointed tip 12 are connected to each other (see the upper right column in page 5, FIG. 1, etc.).
Patent Literature 2 (identified below) discloses a catheter tube for medical use that includes a resin inner layer tube, a reinforcing material layer that is wound around the periphery of the inner layer tube, and an outer layer tube that covers the inner layer tube and the reinforcing material layer. Additionally, the catheter tube includes an X-ray impermeable marker that is arranged to be in contact with the reinforcing material layer (see FIG. 20, etc.).